Washington Post defends State of the Union coverage

After changing a headline on a story about President Trump’s State of the Union address, The Washington Post on Wednesday explained that the update to the headline was not due to complaints.

The newspaper changed the headlines multiple times after the first edition, but a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner it was to reflect the paper’s coverage, not because of complaints on Twitter. 

“Like most newspapers, the Post often rethinks, refines and rewrites headlines from one edition to the next based on its own internal discussions about what best captures the nature of a story,” a Post spokesperson said.

{mosads}The Washington Post tweeted out a photo of its first edition front page at 11:17 p.m. Tuesday with the overarching headline “A call for bipartisanship,” over a story with the headline “A chance to act presidentially, at least for a night.”

Here’s the front page of tomorrow’s Washington Post: pic.twitter.com/5HQmDNoa4r

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 30, 2018

Replies quickly poured in from Twitter users who criticized the choice of words.

About an hour later, the newspaper shared an updated front page with headline “A ‘new American moment,’” quoting one of Trump’s more memorable lines from the speech. The new front page also featured new stories that did not appear on the initial cover.

This page was updated after the first edition. Here is the final front page. pic.twitter.com/nfR7p2wEPB

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 31, 2018

Reaction to Trump’s speech fell along party lines, with Republican praising his remarks and Democrats ripping his rhetoric, particularly on immigration.